System and apparatus for wireless synchronization of multimedia content

• US 20050262146A1
• Filed: 01/14/2005
• Published: 11/24/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 01/21/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC (General Motors Company)
• Original Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC (General Motors Company)
• Inventors: Schwartz, Michael S., Rush, Scott A., Riley, Robert M. Jr., Grace, James R., Kortge, James M.
• Granted Patent: US 7,885,926 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1095 Replication or mirroring of data, e.g. scheduling or transport for data synchronisation between network nodes
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99931 Database or file accessing

Abstract

Apparatus is provided for an electronic vehicle storage system. The apparatus includes a data storage device configured to store multimedia files, a wireless transceiver configured to transfer multimedia files, and a controller coupled to the wireless transceiver, data storage device, and a vehicle electrical infrastructure. The data storage device has an embedded database containing a first list of multimedia files. The controller is configured to communicate with an external computing device via the wireless transceiver. The external computing device has a second list of multimedia files. The controller is further configured to synchronize the first list of multimedia files with the second list of multimedia files.

Claims

1. An electronic vehicle storage system comprising:

a data storage device configured to store multimedia files, said data storage device comprising an embedded database containing a first list of multimedia files;

a wireless transceiver configured to transfer multimedia files; and

a controller coupled to said wireless transceiver, said data storage device, and a vehicle electrical infrastructure, said controller configured to;

communicate with an external computing device via said wireless transceiver, said external computing device comprising a second list of multimedia files; and

synchronize said first list of multimedia files with said second list of multimedia files.

2. An electronic vehicle storage system according to claim 1, wherein said controller is further configured to:

determine an absent multimedia file from said second list of multimedia files based on said first list of multimedia files; and

transfer said absent multimedia file to said second list of multimedia files via said wireless transceiver.

3. An electronic vehicle storage system according to claim 1, wherein said data storage device is a hard disk drive;

and wherein said multimedia files are compressed digital multimedia files.

4. An electronic vehicle storage system according to claim 1, wherein said controller is further configured to:

detect a synchronization initiation signal via said vehicle electrical infrastructure prior to synchronizing said first list of multimedia files with said second list of multimedia files.

5. An electronic vehicle storage system according to claim 4, further comprising a radio frequency (RF) receiver coupled to said vehicle electrical infrastructure;

and

wherein said synchronization initiation signal is a key fob signal received by said RF receiver.

6. An electronic vehicle storage system according to claim 1, further comprising a telematics transceiver coupled to said controller;

wherein said embedded database further comprises a list of multimedia file content corresponding to said list of multimedia files;

wherein said controller is further configured to associate a recognized multimedia file with a multimedia file content from said list of multimedia file content; and

wherein said telematics transceiver is configured to retrieve a multimedia file content corresponding to a non-recognized multimedia file.

7. An electronic vehicle storage system according to claim 6 further comprising a satellite receiver coupled to said data storage device, said satellite receiver configured to receive an updated list of multimedia file content, said data storage device configured to store said updated list of multimedia file content.

8. An electronic vehicle storage system according to claim 1 further comprising a media playback device coupled to said controller, said media playback device configured to transfer multimedia files to said data storage device via said controller, said media playback device selected from a compact disc player, a magnetic tape player, a compressed digital audio player, a mini-disc player, and a DVD player.

9. An electronic vehicle storage system according to claim 1, wherein said external computing device is a personal computer having a memory configured to store said second list of multimedia file content.

10. A vehicle multimedia data storage system comprising:

a wireless transceiver configured to transfer multimedia files;

a data storage device configured to store multimedia files, said data storage device comprising an embedded database having a first list of multimedia files; and

a controller coupled to said data storage device, said wireless transceiver, and a vehicle electrical infrastructure, said controller configured to;

determine an available power supply; and

synchronize said first list of multimedia files with a second list of multimedia files via said wireless transceiver based on said available power supply.

11. A vehicle multimedia data storage system according to claim 10, wherein said controller is further configured to:

determine a synchronization time based on said available power supply;

increase said synchronization time during vehicle operation; and

decrease said synchronization time during synchronization with ignition-off.

12. A vehicle multimedia data storage system according to claim 11, wherein said vehicle electrical infrastructure comprises a battery power management system;

and

wherein said controller is further configured to;

communicate with said battery power management system; and

determine said available power supply based on said battery power management system.

13. A vehicle multimedia data storage system according to claim 10 further comprising a media playback device coupled to said controller, said media playback device configured to transfer multimedia files to said data storage device via said controller, said media playback device selected from a compact disc player, a magnetic tape player, a compressed digital audio player, a mini-disc player, and a DVD player.

14. A vehicle multimedia data storage system according to claim 10, wherein said controller is further configured to:

detect a synchronization initiation signal via said vehicle electrical infrastructure prior to synchronizing said first list of multimedia files with said second list of multimedia files.

15. A vehicle multimedia data storage system according to claim 14 further comprising a radio frequency (RF) receiver coupled to said vehicle electrical infrastructure;

and

wherein said synchronization initiation signal is a key fob signal received by said RF receiver.

16. An infotainment system for a motor vehicle, said infotainment system comprising:

a hard drive comprising an embedded database containing a first list of multimedia files;

a wireless transceiver configured to transfer multimedia files;

a playback device configured to playback multimedia files stored on a portable storage medium, said hard drive further configured to store multimedia files from said playback device in said embedded database, said first list of multimedia files based on said multimedia files from said playback device; and

a controller coupled to said hard drive, said wireless transceiver, and said playback device, said controller configured to;

synchronize said first list of multimedia files with a second list of multimedia files via said wireless transceiver.

17. An infotainment system according to claim 16, wherein said second list of multimedia files resides on an external processing unit;

and

wherein said controller is further configured to communicate with said external processing unit via said wireless transceiver.

18. An infotainment system according to claim 16, wherein said controller is further configured to detect a synchronization initiation signal prior to synchronizing said first list of multimedia files with said second list of multimedia files.

20. An infotainment system according to claim 16, wherein said controller is further configured to:

determine a battery power level; and

vary a synchronization time based on said battery power level.

19. An infotainment system according to claim 19 further comprising a radio frequency (RF) receiver coupled to said vehicle electrical infrastructure;

and

wherein said synchronization initiation signal is a key fob signal received by said RF receiver.